


Conspiracy Theory

by lesyeuxverts



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-01
Updated: 2014-03-01
Packaged: 2018-01-14 05:06:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1253941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesyeuxverts/pseuds/lesyeuxverts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tonks and Kingsley were the leaders of the conspiracy, Harry was certain. Every pointed phrase, every sidelong glance – it all originated with them. The rest of the Order had been pressed into service, following their plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Conspiracy Theory

Tonks and Kingsley were the leaders of the conspiracy, Harry was certain. Every pointed phrase, every sidelong glance – it all originated with them. The rest of the Order had been pressed into service, following their plan.  
  
Hermione cornered Harry in the kitchen after breakfast, a smudge of Tonks' favorite lipstick on her starched collar. "Harry," she said, and he braced himself against the counter.  
  
"Harry, I don't think that you should live in Grimmauld Place alone. If the Death Eaters were to attack on two sides –"  
  
"Breaking the Fidelius Charm, and the strongest wards in Europe outside of Hogwarts, then yes, Hermione, I'd be in trouble – but that doesn't mean that I need Snape here, greasy and underfoot."  
  
"The house is still full of Dark magic, and who better to help you break all of those nasty enchantments?"  
  
"Someone who doesn't have a grudge the size of the Americas and a mean streak the size of Eurasia, perhaps?" Harry lifted down the teakettle, filling it with water and setting it to boil. "Give over, Hermione."  
  
She reached around him to take down the sugar, her flowery scent wafting around him. He closed his eyes and pinched his nose, fighting a sneeze.  
  
"He doesn't have a grudge anymore," Hermione said, ignoring his grimace, "and he may be occasionally unpleasant, but 'mean streak' is really going too far."  
  
"You haven't seen him in a snit, have you? Or heard him insult a girl for overgrown teeth, or seen him on top of the Astronomy –"  
  
"Oh, Harry. Who's holding a grudge now?"  
  
\---  
  
Kingsley cornered Snape by the screaming portrait, ambushing him just as he pulled the curtains tight. Harry lingered on the stairs, eavesdropping.  
  
Snape's mouth was drawn in a thin, tight line as he leaned away from Kingsley. "No," he said.  
  
Kingsley took a step forward, backing Snape into the wall, and flashed him a bright smile. "You don't even know what I'm going to say."  
  
"Your poor, precious, persecuted Potter isn't old enough, wise enough, or hardy enough to live alone in this dilapidated house, and you want me to look after him. The answer is no – I've had enough of the brat."  
  
"Severus ..."  
  
Snape shook his head, shoving past Kingsley and heading for the stairs. Harry shrank back, tiptoeing up a few steps, just as Kingsley grabbed Snape's arm.  
  
"Contrary to popular belief, I am neither his nursemaid nor his servant. I've waited my entire life to be shed of Potter and everything connected to him, and now that I've my freedom, you won't bully me into watching over him as he risks his neck yet again."  
  
"You haven't wasted your entire life protecting him just to let him be killed by an ancient cursed heirloom or a tumble down the stairs, have you?"  
  
Severus shook Kingsley's hand from his elbow, starting up the stairs. Harry scurried up the stairs and into one of the vacant rooms, hearing Snape's last words drift down to Kingsley, resonant enough to set off Mrs. Black's screams again. "Potter's fate is of no concern to me now."  
  
\---  
  
Lunch was the last meal for the Order of the Phoenix together at Grimmauld Place – they gathered around the long table, coming together in awkward clumps that spread out in an attempt to fill the empty spaces at the table.  
  
Draco sat down next to Harry, thrusting an elbow in his ribs. "Not so cozy with the other golden Gryffindors anymore, are you? You had to bribe Kingsley into bullying Severus into staying here with you – poor Potter, afraid to live in a creaky, empty house all on his lonesome, is that it?"  
  
"Shove off, Malfoy," Harry said. "You and Snape will be lucky if I still let you into the house after the Order's disbanded."  
  
"Lucky? To be allowed into a shack like this?"  
  
Snape arrived late to the meal, his black cloak billowing around him as he made his dramatic entrance, shrugging a shoulderful of snow onto the floor. "Bellatrix has been captured," he said. "The last of the Death Eaters is locked up in Azkaban, sealed away beyond redemption and beyond any hope of hurting your precious savior. I hope this will put an end to all of the inane attempts to keep me here to baby-sit him."  
  
Harry jumped to his feet, crossing his arms. "Baby-sit? Snape, if you think that any parent would allow you with their child for more than one instant –"  
  
"Parents trusted me with their children for seven years at Hogwarts, you imbecile. If you thought before opening your mouth, Potter, it would make a blessed change."  
  
"If you think that parents trusted you for any reason other than Dumbledore's pat assurances that his pet Death Eater had been declawed –"  
  
"Albus Dumbledore was a greater man than you will ever understand, Potter. He did not –"  
  
Harry grasped his wand, kicking his chair away from the table. With a quick spell, he levitated the chair, sending it flying at Snape's face. "How dare you tell me what I don't understand about the man that you –"  
  
Kingsley caught the chair with his bare hands, slamming it back onto the floor. "That's enough, both of you."  
  
Tonks put a hand on Harry's elbow, pinching a nerve and plucking his wand out of his hand. "Harry, don't you see that you and Severus would be so much better off if you learned to cooperate with each other?"  
  
Snape glared at Kingsley, but didn't resist when he was disarmed. "If you think that Potter and I won't come to blows without the aid of magic, feel free to live out the rest of your pathetic, delusional lives without him. He's a Muggle-raised barbarian, and I'm not going to tolerate his insolence for an instant longer."  
  
Kingsley and Tonks exchanged glances, and then turned to face them.   
  
"Albus wanted it, you know," Tonks said, putting her hands on her hips and changing her hair to bright purple spikes. "He wanted the two of you to get along. Harry, you and Severus complement each other perfectly. If you only cooperated –"  
  
Snape twisted in Kingsley's grasp, reclaiming his wand and breaking free. He paused in the doorway, turning back to look at Harry and giving him a mocking bow. "Best of luck with your doomed attempt at home ownership ... until we meet again. I'll dismantle every ward and reactivate every Dark curse in this house if any of you dares to pursue me and suggest again that I act as Potter's nanny."  
  
\---  
  
The Order members left Grimmauld Place at last, leaving Harry with murmured offers of help and lingering sharp looks. "Take care of yourself," Hermione said, pressing Harry in a hug. "Remember what I said."  
  
Kingsley clapped Harry on the shoulder as Tonks pulled Hermione away. "You can always call on the Order if you've need of help – but the best solution would be a ceasefire between you and Severus, Potter. He's better equipped to help guard you than any of us, and he's nowhere else to live."  
  
Harry shook his head, ducking away from Kingsley's hand. "We'd kill each other within a day, sir. It's best that we don't make the attempt."  
  
Kingsley sighed and reached back to ruffle Harry's hair. "It's your decision, of course," he said, and the door swung shut behind him with a hollow thud.  
  
Harry found Snape in the library, a tattered book cradled in his hands and his feet up by the fire. He looked up at Harry's entrance. "The rest of your sycophants have left at last?"   
  
"No thanks to you," Harry said, sitting on the arm of his chair. "If you'd only –"  
  
"I'll not expose you to scorn or ridicule," Snape said. "Nor will I live with you yet."  
  
Harry plucked the book from Snape's hand, marking the page and setting it on the table. Snape reached for it, but Harry blocked his hand, sliding into his lap. "You'll stay the night, at least?"  
  
Snape's breath was warm on the back of his neck. "Of course."  
  
His arms tightened around Harry. "However, if you think that I will be so accommodating to your every whim –"  
  
Harry twisted around and kissed him silent. "Of course not."  
  
Silence stretched between them like sweet toffee, golden and warm as the firelight. Harry leaned back into Snape's embrace, turning his head to press kisses on Snape's neck.   
  
Snape was here with Harry now, and that was enough. As the conspiracy spread through the Order – as Snape was forced to deal with Molly's temper and Mad-Eye's paranoia, he'd yield. He'd move into Grimmauld Place in order to regain his blessed peace and quiet, and then Harry would have him.


End file.
